Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea of mystery and answer the question blog

【tdr0099】Jiminy Cricket was created with trials and errors.

Walt Disney feature-length animation film “Pinocchio” was released in 1940, February 7th (1952, May 17th in Japan). This film is the second film from Disney after “Snow White”, the story based on fairy tale “The Adventures of Pinocchio” written by Carlo Collodi and this film was completed after 2 initiative years.

With such film of “Pinocchio”, the character that cannot be missed is cricket “Jiminy Cricket”. He is an important character that supports “Pinocchio” and Pinocchio’s conscience, and storyteller. The anthropomorphism look of his is so cute and small.

Although, he didn’t have that “cute look” from the beginning.

The first look of his had no cuteness at all and was awful that it wasn’t anthropomorphism yet, so he looked “a bug”. Especially with his hands and legs were like bugs and ragged section that bugs have, so it was rather a character that expressed creepiness than loveliness.

It would be worrying to give the important role to creepy character and it doesn’t click that he is the conscience of Pinocchio. Of course Walt immediately rejected this idea and gave an order to redraw the character.

The next character design was little bit anthropomorphized and became a character has expressions. They gave a violin by it is a cricket that plays music and wore tuxedo by that loveliness was increased compare to the first design, but figure and ragged legs was still there and had bug look.

Walt of course rejected. He gave an order to take the figure and bug look away.

Then improvement was made little by little to closer to the completion of “Jiminy Cricket”. Walt made them redraw countless times by checking every detail and never compromised.

And then “Jiminy Cricket” that we all know was born. If Walt took the first idea and Jiminy looked like “a bug”…. He would have been a not loveable character and film of “Pinocchio” was not going to be the great film.